Tales of Herding Gods

“Kill a few ancient gods?”

Yu Chudu got a fright. By the time he had composed himself, Qin Mu had already walked some distance away. He hurriedly caught up and whispered, “Senior Uncle, who are you exactly?”

The dragon qilin laughed. “Clearly, he’s Celestial Venerable Mu. Didn’t you hear Jing Baichuan mention that just now? Cult Master is Celestial Venerable Mu, the imperial preceptor of Eternal Peace, and the cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult. Have you heard of the Heavenly Saint Cult?”

Yu Chudu shook his head blankly and said, “I was born in the nine prefectures and have never left this place…”

The dragon qilin roused his spirits and slowly guided him. “The Heavenly Saint Cult was established by your teacher, the Emperor of Endless Clouds, Wei Suifeng, the great cult master in the earlier years. It has a total of 361 halls, carrying out the path of a saint for common people’s everyday use. How do you become a saint? To achieve sainthood, there are three requirements—establish a cult, establish ideas in writing, and establish merit. Right now, we are in need of people. Old brother Yu, you’re the disciple of the Emperor of Endless Clouds, and the Heavenly Saint Cult was founded by him. In that case, you…”

Yu Chudu, this Jade Capital Realm expert, under the enticement of the dragon qilin, had muddle-headedly joined the Heavenly Saint Cult and agreed to become an elder of discipline.

The ancient gods of the nine prefectures weren’t star sovereigns. They didn’t have ancestral stars, only ancestral lands.

Those nine ancient gods were born from the sacrificial offerings of the masters of creation who lived there during the ancient primordial era. Their ancestral lands were in the center of the nine prefectures. Each ancient god had its own birthplace.

The ancestral land of the ancient god of the White Earth Hope Prefecture was covered by flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. Thunderclouds completely covered the mountains, overlapping each other with unfathomable depth. When one approached, they would be deafened by the sound of thunder. There were no creatures living there.

Any lifeforms that approached the ancestral land would be killed by lightning.

Qin Mu looked into the distance. There were mountains among the thunderclouds, and they were struck by lightning until they became white. On the mountain peaks stood many gods in golden armor, looking extremely imposing.

Those gods should be the gods who followed the White Earth ancient god. They constantly clashed their cymbals to create the sound of thunder, bombarding the primordial spirits of those who dared to barge in.

In order to maintain their own sense of mystery and sacredness, the ancient gods of the nine prefectures covered their ancestral lands with thunderclouds. Even those who had just become gods could hardly penetrate the thunderclouds.

Therefore, after the divine arts practitioners of the nine prefectures became gods, they still needed to pass through the test of thunderclouds in order to be able to enter the nine great ancestral lands to meet the ancient gods of the nine prefectures and become the god generals under their command.

To all living beings in the nine prefectures, the ancient gods of the nine prefectures were shrouded in mystery, secretive in their movements. Hence, there were many who worshiped them.

Qin Mu took Yu Chudu, Yan’er, and the dragon qilin through the thunderclouds. Yu Chudu was shocked that the gods in gold armor that were guarding the thunderclouds appeared not to have seen them. Even if they had walked under their eyelids, they wouldn’t be able to see them.

‘Senior Uncle is indeed remarkable! This level of consciousness attainment is unheard of!’ He quietly praised Qin Mu in his heart.

They penetrated deep into the thunderclouds. For the first time, Yu Chudu saw the full view of the ancestral land of the White Earth ancient god. Surrounded by mountains and engulfed by the thunderclouds, a giant sacrificial altar covering thousands of miles appeared in front of them.

The altar was extremely huge, larger than the sacrificial altar of the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge by several folds. No one knew who built it.

Between the thunderclaps and the fog surrounding the altar, there were many enormous skeletons facing the altar in a worshiping posture.

Millions of skeletons surrounded this large-scale altar, round and round. The huge skeletons were like small mountains, comparable to a giant god.

Yu Chudu walked over to the skeletons and raised his head. He saw hexagon-shaped gemstones embedded in their foreheads, which were still giving off a faint light.

The faint light rays flowed from the hearts of those skeletons’ brows towards the sacrificial altar.

“These are the masters of creation, the creators of the White Earth ancient god,” the dragon qilin whispered.

Yu Chudu looked at the skeletons with a certain degree of awe. Although the masters of creation weren’t more powerful than him, they created the peculiar lifeform known as an ancient god, which was worthy of respect.

The civilization of the ancient primordial era had its own unique charm.

They got on the altar and saw many gods and devils on it. They didn’t know if they were the descendants of the White Earth ancient god or the gods who arrived there by breaking through the thunderclouds.

The White Earth ancient god had built a god city on the altar. It was extremely luxurious. The gods of the city lived a life of wanton extravagance, steeped in wine and surrounded by women. Qin Mu took Yu Chudu and the rest through the city and saw leftover “sacrifices” being imprisoned in cages.

They were sacrificial offerings given by the various races of White Earth to the half-gods. The sacrifices were slaves from various races, and among them were humans.

They were imprisoned in cages, looking panic-stricken. Even more of them were simply numb. They stared blankly ahead, their eyes blinking only after a long time.

“Disciple Nephew Yu, you’re a god who grew up here and should be familiar with the history of the nine prefectures and the three pillar heavens, right?”

Qin Mu stopped walking and asked, “Didn’t this place go through the revolutions of Dragon Han and Crimson Light?”

Yu Chudu pondered for a while and said, “I heard Teacher talk about the revolutions and reforms of the Dragon Han and Crimson Light eras. He also spoke a little about what happened during the High Emperor Era. However, this isn’t the Primordial Realm. We are the same as other heavens, nothing has changed over the last million years. Our ancestors have been living like this for generations.”

Qin Mu was stunned.

The Dragon Han Revolution, the Crimson Light Revolution, the High Emperor Reform, and the Founding Emperor Reform were grand and spectacular.

However, they hadn’t spread beyond the Primordial Realm to the various heavens of the universe.

The lives of the people outside the Primordial Realm remained the same. They were still enslaved by the ancient gods, and everything was like the early years of the Dragon Han Era.

They were already numb and accepted the fate of their ancestors, as well as their own fate and the fate of their future generations.

Only in the Primordial Realm had people with lofty ideals emerged endlessly for millions of years, constantly resisting, fighting, and making reforms.

Qin Mu raised his head and looked at the center of the sacrificial altar.

The center of the altar was where the power of the sacrificial offerings converged. A majestic ancient god came into their sight.

The entire body of that ancient god was as white as snow. It looked like a white ape with four arms, and its body was covered in bulging muscles. There was a vermillion red horn on its head, which was pulling in the power of the sacrificial offerings as he inhaled and exhaled.

His body was as big as a mountain, and as he breathed, his corporeal body expanded and contracted. Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled whenever his muscle moved.

Thousands of gods surrounded him, emitting Dao sounds from their mouths to refine his body.

There were gods shaking hammers made from white bones. Skulls flew out from those hammers into the prison cages, sucking out the souls of the sacrificial lifeforms.

The skulls returned and danced around the ancient god, spewing out the souls that they siphoned, which were then absorbed into the ancient god’s body with each breath he took.

The ancient god who ruled the White Earth Hope Prefecture actually trained hard day and night, even more diligently than the Postcelestial lifeforms!

He even used the souls of the Postcelestial lifeforms to train and was filled with demonic nature.

Although it was difficult for the ancient gods to break through the restraints of their body’s Great Dao, they could continue to explore along the lines of their own Great Dao, raising the power of their Great Dao to the extreme.

Clearly, the White Earth ancient god was one such example.

Yan’er was feeling a little uneasy. She reminded Qin Mu, saying, “Young Master, the power of an ancient god is strong in their ancestral land. Why not lure this ancient god out of this place and kill him outside?”

The dragon qilin was also feeling a little uneasy. “The power of this ancient god seems much stronger than the Five Elements Star Sovereigns back then! Cult Master, why don’t we decide on a plan first…”

Qin Mu stopped his footsteps.

Yan’er and the dragon qilin heaved a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Qin Mu took out the Glassy Sky Pagoda and stabbed it into the ground.

Their hearts jumped as they saw Qin Mu bowing towards the Glassy Sky Pagoda, saying solemnly, “I request this treasure evolve into the 28 heavens!”